Kitchen utensil.



No. 637,52l. Patented Nov; 2|, I899. W. MITCHEL.

KITCHEN UTENSIL.

(Application filed June 27, 1899.) (No Model.) 2 sheets-shed: I.

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OOOOOOO GOOOOOO OOOQOOG OOOOGOO OOOOOOO 0060000 0960090 NITED STATESPATENT FFICE.

\VILLIAM MITOHEL, OF KNEELAND, WISCONSIN, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO AUGUSTPETRIE, OF MILVAUKEE, WISCONSIN.

KITCHEN UTENSIL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 637,521, dated November21, 1899.

Application filed June 27, 1899. Serial No. 722,008. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM MITOHEL, of Kneeland, in the county ofRacine and State of Wisconsin, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Kitchen Utensils, of which the following is adescription, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which area part of this specification.

My invention relates to an improved kitchen utensil which is especiallyadapted for slicing, grating, mashing, or pulverizing potatoes andvegetables and may be used for other operations in kitchen economy towhich the utensil can readilybe applied or for which, with slightchanges, it is adapted to be used.

The utensil is made portable, being so constru cted as to be readilysecured detachably to a table or analogous article for convenient use.

The invention consists of the utensil, its parts, and combinations ofparts, as herein described and claimed, or the equivalents thereof.

In the drawings, Figure l is a view of my improved utensil at one side,parts being shown in section for convenience of illustra tion. Fig. 2 isa rear end view of the utensil, parts being broken away to exhibitotherwise hidden features. Fig. 3 is a view of the front end of myimproved utensil. Figs. 4 and 5 are a rear view and a central section,respectively, of a grater adapted to be used with my improved utensil.Figs. 6 and 7 are a front and an edge view, respectively, of a slicer orseparator adapted to be used with my improved utensil. Fig. Sis a viewof a sieve or separator adapted to be used with my improved utensil.Figs. 9 and 10 are a section and a rear view, respectively, of a funnelor compressor adapted to be used with my utensil.

In my improved utensil a hollow case 11 is provided with a suitable legor bracket 12, by which the utensil can be readily secured to andsupported on a table or analogous article detachably. The leg 12 isprovided with a proper foot surface or bearing 13, adapted to rest onthe top of a table at its edge, and with a thumb-screw 14, turningthrough a toe of the foot underneath .the edge of the table against adisk 15, provided with guides 16 16, which guides enter and slideendwise in recesses therefor in the toe of the leg. The disk 15 isadapted to be forced against the under surface of the table by the screw14, whereby theleg 12 and its load are clamped detachably to and therebysupported on the table.

The hollow case 11 is segmental or curved longitudinally and is opennormally at both extremities. A piston 17, fitted loosely in the case11, is movable therein longitudinally thereof and is provided with astem 18, that is pivoted to a lever-handle 19, the lever-handle beingpivoted at one end to a bracket 20, fixed on the case 11. Theconstruction is such that by raising the handle 19 sufficiently thepiston 17 can be withdrawn from the case at the front end and onreplacing the piston in the case by depressing the handle the pistonwill be moved toward and quite to the rearend of the case, which end ofthe case is out 01f vertically, forming an open horizontally-disposeddischarging-aperture. For this end'of the case having the opendischarging-aperture I provide means for slicing, grating, or otherwisecutting up or separating potatoes or vegetables.

In Figs. 1 and 2 Ishow a slicer 21, consisting of a disk provided withoblique slots having therein knives 22, set at an oblique angle to theface of the disk, which knives project slightly toward the case. Thedisk is provided with a hub 23, that is mounted on an arbor 24,projecting rigidly from the bracket 20. The arbor 24 is located abovethe discharging-aperture of the case 11, and the disk 21 is of such sizeand so mountedon the arbor 24 that it rotates close to and in front ofthe end of the case 11, whereby potatoes, vegetables, or any otherarticles of household use that may be placed in the case and forced tothe rear in the case 11 by the piston 17 will come against the knives 22on the disk 21, and as this is rotated will be out or sliced up, theslices passingthrough the slots in the disk adjacent to theknives 22.The disk or slicer 21 is provided with a crank-handle 25, whereby it isconveniently rotated. The slicer is held in position rotatably on thearbor 2t by a swinging latch 26, pivoted on the bracket and arranged tofall into an annular channel therefor in the hub 23. By lifting thelatch 26 the slicer can be removed from the arbor 24:. As theslicer-disk 21 is of considerable size and as it is important to holdthe disk near to the end of the case 11, I provide a bearing for theoutersurface of the disk at its perimeter-below the lower edge of thecase 11, this bearing consisting of a lip 27 on the free end of an arm28, hinged on the leg 12. This arm is adapted to be thrown up inposition against the lower surface of the case and when in this positionthe lip 27 comes at the rear of the case and behind the disk 21, againstwhich lip the disk bears asit rotates and is thereby held againstescaping from its position close to the end of the case 11. The arm 28is held up to its seat against the case 11 by a block 29, pivoted on theleg 12 and adapted to be swung under the lever 28 when it is in positionagainst the case 11 and to be withdrawn from supporting the arm 28 andpermit it to drop down away from the case and from the disk 21 for thepurpose of releasing the disk 21 and permitting it to be removed fromthe arbor 21 for the purpose of cleaning it or otherwise.

To prevent the material that has been I sliced'oif or separated from thepotato, vegetable, or mass in the case 11 as it escapes through theslots in the slicer from being scattered about, I provide a guard 30 inthe general form of a rim about and projecting rearwardly from theslicer, which guard or rim is a part ofa frame 31, adapted to pass downover and about the hub 23 when on the arbor 24 and down upon and fittedto the case 11, the case being preferably provided with lugs 32 32 inpairs, between which edges of the frame are received, sliding therein toplace and being held thereby to vertical position over and about theslicer-disk. The guard is also provided with a thin sheet-metal back 83,the back being cut away to permit the guard to slide down over the hub23 and over the end of the case 11. It will be noted that the rim of theguard is cut away below the case 11, so as to permit material to fallfreely from the knives after it has passed through the disk 21. I alsopreferably provide an auxiliary guard 3 1-, consisting of a narrow platesecured at its lower end to the guard 30 and extending upwardlytherefrom a little in front of the disk 21 and at that side of thedischarge-opening from the case 11 toward which the knives move afterpassing the caseaperture, the auxiliary guard being adapted to catch andbrush off from the disk any portions of material that may cling to thedisk after passing through the knife-slots.

Instead of the slicer 21 (shown in Figs. 1 and 2) there may be employeda disk grater 35, of the form shown in Figs. at and 5, which instead ofbeing provided with slots and obliquelydisposed knives is provided witha roughened surface and apertures adjacent to the sharp roughened edgesabout these apertures, which being mounted on the arbor 24 in the samemanner as the slicer-disk 21 is adapted to abrade and thereby to cut upor separate the material forced against it in the case 11 while thegrater is being rotated. The slicer 21 and the grater 35 are onlyvarying forms of a cutting-up or separating device adapted to be mountedon the arbor 24 and to be used by rotating them in front of thedischarging end of the case 11 against material held thereto in the caseby means of the piston 17. Also, instead of the slicer or grater theremay be used with the case 11 another form of slicer or separator,consisting of a frame 36 of substantially the same size as the open endof the case 11, which frame 36 is provided with fine wires 37, stretchedacross the frame from side to side thereof. This frame is provided witha hub 38, adapted to fit on the .arbor 24 and to be locked in place bythe latch 26, and is also adapted to be engaged at its lower end by thelip or catch of the arm 28, and thereby held in place at the front endof the case 11.

In Fig. 8 another form of separating device is shown, consisting of aperforated plate 39, adapted to be secured over the open end of the case11 in substantially the same manner as the slicer-frame of Fig. (i issecured thereto.

In Figs. 9 and 10a funnel 40 is shown,which, instead of the slicer-frameof Fig. 6 or the perforated plate of Fig. 8, maybe secured to the caseover the rear discharging end thereof, the funnel being adapted forcompressing and discharging any material that may be forced through itfrom the case and is especially adapted for compressing and dischargingsausage-m eat or any other hashed, plastic, or comminuted material.

It will be understood that this utensil havingavarietyof materialseparators is adapted for many uses in a kitchen and that itsconstruction is such that its parts can be separated or entirely removedfrom each other, whereby it can be cleaned with the utmost facility.

\Vhat I claim as my invention is- 1. In a kitchen utensil, thecombination with a hollow case having an open discharging end, and apiston reciprocable therein, of an arbor at one side of the open end ofthe case projecting in the direction of the length of the case, amaterial-separating disk mounted revolubly on the arbor, and areleasable arm having a bearing-lip arranged to hold the disk to itsplace at the rear of the case.

2. A portable kitchen utensil, comprising a curved hollow case openatboth ends, means for supporting the case, a piston movablelongitudinally in the case, a lever handle hinged at one extremityapproximately at the axis of the curve of the case, a piston-stemconnected to the handle medially, an arbor rigid on the case projectingacross the plane IIO of the discharging end of the case, amaterial-separator provided with a hub fitted detaohably on the arbor,said hub being provided with a groove, a latch hinged on the caseadapted to enter the groove in the hub and hold the separator inposition detachably and an arm hinged on the case, the arm beingprovided with a lip adapted to engage releasably the distant edge of thematerial-separator and hold it in place. IO

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

WILLIAM MITCI-IEL. Witnesses:

O. T. BENEDICT, ANNA V. FAUsT.

